


Control

by BitterSweeticide



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Angst, Attempted Undertale Genocide Run, Flowey - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Other, Papyrus - Freeform, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, Sans - Freeform, Slow Burn, Snowdin, Undertale Genocide Route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-11-23 16:40:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11406378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterSweeticide/pseuds/BitterSweeticide
Summary: You don't remember how and when you fell into the Underground. All you seem to know is that it's inhabited by monsters with little to no signs of human life. You make it your goal to find your way back to the surface where you belong and return home. But, when you somehow meet another human like you, everything changes...Contains spoilers for Undertale, fluff, scenes of murder, and minimal cursing.Undertale and its characters respectfully belong to Toby Fox.Note: Since Chara's gender isn't specified, I decided to use "they" as not to offend anybody.





	1. Fallen

I groaned in pain, my head throbbing achingly and my vision blurry and hazy. I blinked rapidly, attempting to adjust my eyes and check my surroundings. I weakly pulled myself up to stand, only to stumble face-first onto the ground once again, uttering a small noise. As I slowly gained back my sight, I allowed my hands to feel around me. My fingers grazed over something soft, and I opened my eyes to discover I was lying in a small patch of bright golden flowers bathed in sunlight from up above me where I had fallen. And from the looks of it, it was the only main source of light as well.

I finally managed to make myself stand up, my legs shaky and unstable. My whole body ached and my head had finally stopped pounding. My dizziness remained, but it wasn't affecting me as much as it had before. I tilted my head upward toward the light, scanning the area around me, only to find there was no clear way to climb my way back to the surface. Great. Just what I needed.

I let out a heavy sigh and looked around. The only possible way for me to go was through what looked like a hallway to my right. I breathed in and urged myself to move, heading down the corridor and listening to the sound of my footsteps piercing the cold silence. As I reached the end, I entered another area bathed in total darkness, with only a small patch of light in the very middle. I made my way toward the light hesitantly, not entirely sure what to expect.

I nearly fell down in shock when a yellow flower similar to the ones in the patch I had fallen on earlier popped out of the ground. Now, this wouldn't have surprised me too much if it wasn't for the fact that the flower had a face and was smiling cheerfully up at me, as if it was completely normal in every way.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" the flower spoke in an abnormally happy tone and continued to hold the smile on its face. I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't think of what to say to the strange creature.

"Hmm... You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?" it continued. The Underground? What was it even talking about? Was that the name of this place?

"Golly, you must be so confused! Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do," the flower winked as it stated the last part. Now I was definitely scared and beyond confused.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I can figure it out on my own," I held my hands up in front of me and backed away to the side, walking past the thing and eyeing the entryway behind it.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" the flower hissed hideously, its happy face distorting into one of anger and that of a horrific demon.

That was when I forced myself to run, dashing into the supposed exit, only to be blinded by a flash of bright white light.

\---------------------

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked several times, adjusting to the light. I looked down to see I was sprawled out on the ground. My head felt cold against what I guessed was a hard floor. I made myself stand, stumbling slightly, and examined my new environment.

In front of me were two sets of stairs opposite of each other, bending slightly to merge with a second floor up above. Since both seemed to lead to the same place, I randomly chose the left side and climbed my way upwards. When I reached the top, I discovered another doorway, probably leading into another room. I breathed in heavily and closed my eyes for a moment, contemplating what had happened so far and what could be in store for me. While I hadn't the faintest idea of where I could be, I was fixed on finding my way back up to the surface, even if it meant a long and tiring journey.

I opened my eyes, and with a sudden burst of energy and determination, I entered the next area of what would be the start of an unexpected adventure I would not soon forget.


	2. Chara

I coughed and sniffled a bit as I trudged through the snow, using the sleeves of my thin sweater to cover my hands in an attempt to keep them warm.

I had finally made my way through the seemingly isolated area from before. Despite the lack of life, it somehow contained many challenges and puzzles that took me long enough to conquer. Now I was trekking through a wintry forest blanketed in snow and ice. Each breath I made hung in the air in little wisps of fog before quickly disappearing into nothingness. Despite the chilly weather, I pressed on, staying determined.

Still, I couldn't fathom why I hadn't come across any other beings so far, other than the insane flower from earlier. Surely there had to be at least another human like me or some sort of familiar life-form who could help me return home. The land couldn't all be barren, could it?

However, as I pressed on, my shoes crunching down into the snow, I began to lose faith in myself. I was weakened from the unwanted cold and I couldn't stop shaking. My pace slowed and I came to a halt, looking around me to check if I was making any progress. But the only thing in sight was powdery snow as far as the eye could see. 

Suddenly, I let myself fall to the ground, having a sudden coughing fit and shivering intensely. I blanked out for a moment, nearly burying my face in the snow. I decided to rest and closed my eyes in an attempt to recover my strength. When I opened them again, I picked out a dark shadowy figure out of the corner of my eye, easily seen against the white of the terrain. I slowly stood, wobbling a little, and peered closely at the outline of the figure, who was slowly inching closer with each second that passed. The shape and height seemed to be similar to that of a human, along with the overall walking style.   
I let out a hopeful sigh of relief. Maybe I had a chance to be saved and to finally return home after all.

But, as the unknown being came closer into view, I backed up hesitantly in doubt. I could see something glinting in their left hand, possibly metal or steel, which sloped into a sharp tip. I gulped, a rising fear growing in the pit of my stomach and catching in my throat. I needed to run, needed to hide, needed to do something. But my legs refused to move as if they were somehow glued down to the earth. I could only stare wide-eyed as the mysterious person finally stopped a few feet in front of me, holding what I now saw was a knife by their side in silence. My heartbeat sped up rapidly, the loud pounding in my ears making my breaths become short and unfulfilling to my lungs.

The stranger was definitely a human, wearing a slightly large, light green sweater with a single wide, yellow stripe running horizontally in the middle. Their brown pants were cut short just slightly above their simple shoes, and they didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all. I looked back up to their face, noticing their short brown hair and bangs covering their forehead above a pair of menacing blood-red eyes. Their mouth slowly formed a slight grin as I took in their appearance.

"Odd to see another human here," they finally spoke, their voice causing chills to run down my spine as they broke the silence.

"I could say the same to you," I replied in a raspy tone after a minute, standing up a bit straighter as I became tense with uncertainty. Were they going to kill me? Did they want something from me? I held myself back from asking the many questions I had formed in my mind, waiting for them to make a move. They smirked, stepping closer to me while lifting their knife up, pretending to examine the blade.

"A bit cold, aren't we?" they seemed to be amused by their own terrible pun, lifting their gaze back up to me as if expecting me to burst into laughter. I continued to stand my ground, biting my bottom lip hard. My legs were shaking, but this time it was caused more by my overwhelming fear rather than the chill of the air. They seemed to take notice of this and simply smiled, almost pleasantly in a way.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Actually, I'm here to help you out. After all, we humans have to stick together, right? Especially when one is wandering out in the cold like a little lost puppy," their voice was obviously tinted with sarcasm, but as they held their free hand out in a friendly gesture, I felt as if I could somehow trust them. I raised my own hand up, letting them grab it in a firm handshake.

"What's the name?" they asked as they let go after a moment or two, their voice matching their neutral expression.

"My name is Y/N," I replied, keeping my eyes on them just in case they planned to stab me when my back was turned. They nodded with no particular interest and turned around, beginning to walk in the direction from where they came. They beckoned for me to follow, with which I obeyed. "What's yours?" I asked meekly as I walked behind them. They turned their head slightly toward me, their red eyes seeming to pierce into my soul, and answered me with no hesitance.

"Just call me Chara."


	3. Questions

Throughout our hike, Chara stayed completely silent for the most part and avoided any eye contact with me. They looked to be in a deep state of thought for most of the way, and at certain times I felt as if they had forgotten about my existence. But, every once in a while, I would catch them stealing glances at me, only for them to quickly look away as soon as I'd catch them in the act.   
I desperately wanted to bombard them with my many questions, but knew it would be best to wait until we reached our destination. Besides, they didn't look as if they were in the mood to answer anything, or talk at all for that matter.

After a short while of walking through the snowy forest, we came upon a quaint little town. A sign was placed outside the entrance with the phrase "Welcome to Snowdin" neatly painted in red and light blue letters, and I could see a small shop just beyond that. I sighed in relief, somewhat comforted to see a place that showed some sort of life.

Chara stopped walking and turned to me, their eyes almost as cold as the snow beneath our feet. They still held the knife at their side, but so far had showed no intention of using it on me, thankfully. As I held eye contact with them, they opened their mouth and finally spoke.

"I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you have lots of questions, so now's the time to ask them. I'd rather not deal with them later," the expression on their face showed that they held no real interest whatsoever in what I had to say. However, I needed answers, and they were currently my only option at the moment. So, with a shaky breath, I started a long period of inquisition.

"What exactly is this place? Why are there no humans besides us? And is there any way for me to return to the surface?" I let out all the questions at once due to my urgent curiosity and desire for knowledge, to which they reacted by raising an eyebrow and staring at me like I was some sort of lunatic.

"This is the Underground. It's a home just for monsters, which is the main reason why you don't see any humans strolling about, even though the monsters are usually nicer than they look. This town we are in is called Snowdin, if you couldn't already guess. And I don't know about that last question," they answered in a bored tone. I stared down at the ground thoughtfully, pondering over this discovery.

As I thought about what they had said, another question formed in my mind that I had failed to regard entirely until now, despite its importance.

"If this is a home for monsters, why haven't I seen any?" I curiously questioned. When Chara heard this, they froze for a moment, blinking a couple of times in surprise. They tilted their head oddly, but quickly shook it off, a sick smile forming on their face as they began to chuckle.

"I killed them" they casually stated, their evil grin slowly growing.

I nearly choked on air when they said this, and my eyes widened in bewilderment. They had to be joking. Surely they couldn't have killed off an entire population of creatures, and even if they did, they wouldn't be standing here before me like this. They'd be imprisoned, kept away from all societies, locked in a mental asylum.

"You... You're not serious, are you?" my voice cracked as I asked this, and I moved a few steps back. They only continued to laugh, their voice echoing loudly in my ears.

"I'm dead serious. Of course I haven't killed all of them. Well, at least not yet anyway. But that should change real soon now that you're here," they growled, their disgusting smile remaining plastered on their face as they kept their eyes locked on me.

"What do you mean? You're not going to kill me, are you?" my vision became hazy and I felt a deep wave of regret wash over me as the words escaped my lips. I should have known this would happen to me, but I was too stupid to turn back when I had first noticed the knife in their hand earlier. Now, here I was, most likely about to be slaughtered because of my own foolish decisions.

Their eyes flickered softly in doubt for a split second before rapidly fleeting back to their original blood red glow, their smile starting to disappear. "No, I'm not going to kill you. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm going to teach you how to kill."

Confusion and a dash of relief entered my mind when I heard this, and I couldn't help but stare at them, slightly puzzled by their words. They had the chance to murder me this very second like they were doing to the innocent inhabitants of the Underground, but were refusing to take it, wanting to teach me instead.

"Why would you want to teach me when you can just kill me right here and now? You shouldn't care about me if you don't even care about anybody else." I knew I shouldn't be questioning their choice to keep me alive, but I needed to know what made me so special.

Suddenly, they forcefully pushed my body against the sign and held their knife against my neck threateningly. I gasped fearfully and stared into their eyes, which were now burning dark red in fury. Their smile had contorted into an angry snarl, and I could feel their hot breath against my ear as they began to speak, their tone filled with malice.

"Listen here, you idiot. I honestly don't give a damn about you, or anyone else for that matter. I just so happen to be nice enough to keep you alive for now because of the fact that you're a human and I can use you, nothing more. Besides, if it wasn't for me, you'd still be in the forest, only instead of wandering around stupidly, you'd be dead," they hissed the last word with force, slightly pressing down on my skin with the knife. I whimpered and shut my eyes tight, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. "So don't question me again, got it?" they whispered. I nodded, and with that they backed off, dropping the knife back to their side. I rubbed the spot on my neck where the blade had been, too terrified to say anything or even to move.

They scowled before beginning to walk again, a lot more ticked off than they had been earlier. I weakly followed, keeping a safe distance from them and staring down at my snow-covered shoes. The only thing keeping me from fleeing was the fact that they were right about how if they hadn't had found me, I would be dead. This murderer was my only chance of returning home, whether I liked it or not.


	4. First Encounter

Chara had stopped at a small restaurant and bar called Grillby's and, despite their obvious irritation, decided they would buy me a full meal so I would be less weak. Grillby, the bartender and owner of the small building, intrigued me. He seemed to be made entirely out of blazing orange fire, yet was able to wear a suit and thin glasses that covered his small eyes. He stayed silent the entire time I was devouring the food I was given, his fire brightening up each time I took a bite, seemingly pleased that I enjoyed the food. After I finished my meal, I politely told the monster thanks and followed Chara, who had already paid, out the door and back into the snow. 

They proceeded to lead me back to the forest outside of Snowdin, their pace quick and almost jumpy in a way. I followed before I cleared my throat and awkwardly spoke, still a bit fazed from the events earlier. However, I forced myself to keep a steady and calm attitude.

"Where are you taking me now?" my voice was anything but the calm and serene tone I had hoped for. Instead, it come out as fearful and shaky, which I attempted to hide with a series of fake coughs.  
Chara kept walking for a moment before stopping a little ways from the entrance of Snowdin. Then they turned toward me, their eyes showing signs of silent judgement.

"Walk around," they commanded. Despite my obvious confusion, I decided it was best not to question their decisions anymore, and did as I was told. I marched around in the snow, dragging my feet and watching them out of the corner of my eye. They kept their eyes locked on the snow, studying the ground intently.

Suddenly, I unwillingly stopped as something jumped from the side in front of me. I felt a rush of blurriness take over my vision before it disappeared just as quickly as it came. I slowly shifted my gaze upward to find a bright red heart-shaped wisp hovering right in front of me. Beyond that stood a strange, bird-like creature that stared intently at me with glaring, discomforting eyes. Whitish blue fluff covered its wide body and it seemed to possess teeth inside its large, yellow beak. It made a low sound as if it was amused, slightly clawing at the ground with large talons.

The ectoplasmic heart shape began to beat, a loud thumping sound ringing in my ears. A feeling of dread overcame me, and I became scared. Somehow, I knew I was in trouble. Frantically, I looked all around me, trying to spot Chara. I needed help, and fast.

"Ch-Chara! Where are you??" I shouted, glancing over at the creature warily. It seemed to be waiting for something to happen, yet held a threatening glare, still digging up mounds of snow.

I heard a low chuckle before Chara appeared beside me, smiling widely. "Finally, you'll learn how to fight," they pushed me closer to the monster and stared at the heart wisp with what I assumed to be a look of hunger. I stared at them with confusion, unable to clearly process what was going on.

"Now, you see this heart shape here? That is your soul," they slurred the last word as if it was the name of some delectable dessert, gesturing toward the wisp. I caught my breath, this piece of information startling to me. My soul... How could it be there, right in front of me? Better yet, how did it even have a physical form?

Chara then turned toward the creature, pointing at it. "That is a monster. A Snowdrake, to be exact. Now..." they stepped closer to me and handed me their knife. "...all you have to do is kill it with this knife," they said quietly. I felt a lump form in my throat as a sickening feeling rushed through me.  
I couldn't do this. Not to a seemingly innocent creature like this. There was no way.

"Chara, I-I can't...," I struggled to speak, my grip loosening on the knife they had just given me.

"Do it or you'll die instead," they growled harshly in my ear. I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back tears.

"Please... there has to be some other way...," I tried to reason, my voice wavering, but they only shook their head stubbornly. I sighed shakily. My lungs felt as if they had been deprived off all oxygen, and my throat burned like it was on fire. I slowly stepped closer to the Snowdrake, timidly holding the knife in front of me. The monster seemed to ignore the presence of the weapon, silently chortling instead. In my mind, I heard a voice whisper to me, seeming to help me.

"Fight... Act... Item... Mercy...," it said repeatedly in an urgent manner. I unconsciously said one of the words, baffled by what the voice meant.

"Act...?" I spoke out loud in a questioning tone. Immediately after, the voice began to repeat a different pattern of words.

"Check... Heckle... Laugh... Joke...," it pressed. This time, I said the word 'check', and the voice began again.

"A teen comedian who fights to keep a captive audience", it uttered once before vanishing. I took a moment to process what this statement meant, and guessed that it was a description for the Snowdrake. I shifted my gaze back to the creature, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, the Snowdrake spoke, its voice a bit gruff but somehow calm.

"M.. m.. macaroni and 'freeze'," it smiled at its own cheesy pun, waiting for my reaction. I couldn't help but snort at the joke, despite how cringe-worthy it was. This seemed to satisfy the Snowdrake, who ruffled its feather-like fur pleasingly. However, immediately after, it formed a number of boomerang-shaped projectiles in the air, which all focused onto my soul. The loud thumping from before resonated in my head again, as if my soul was warning me.

"Wherever you move, your soul will stay with you! Use this to make sure it's not damaged!" Chara warned from close behind me. I nodded, the advice clicking into my mind almost instantly. As the Snowdrake directed and moved the projectiles to my soul and me, I quickly dodged them until there were no more. I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that I had not been hit. The Snowdrake didn't seem to care much that it had missed me, and was now waiting for my next move.

This time, Chara spoke instead of the voice in my head that had appeared a moment ago. "Choose to fight," they whispered in my ear in an pressing tone. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to block them out. I didn't want to kill. I didn't want to be a cold and heartless murderer like them. I just couldn't do it.

"I won't do it...," I said firmly. Behind me, I heard Chara growl irritably.

"Do it or you're dead," they hissed. I looked downward at the ground, my eyes beginning to fill with tears again. I had no choice. I had to live, and if killing was the only way to stay alive, I'd do it.

Slowly, I forced myself to step up to the Snowdrake, my legs nearly faltering underneath me. It peered down at me and blinked, not aware of what I was about to do. Taking a deep breath, I raised my trembling hand that held Chara's knife and closed my eyes, on the brink of completely breaking down right then and there.

"I'm so sorry," I muttered before slashing the blade through a layer of fur and skin, tears immediately rolling down my cheeks. A surprised screech of agony filled my ears, causing me to drop the knife, before the air was quickly replaced by the silence of the cold once again.

After a moment, I began to sob, collapsing on the ground and burying my face in the white powder beneath my feet. I coughed several times, unable to properly breathe. My body was shaking intensely and my soul seemed to be giving off a rigid and cold pulse that engulfed my mind. I couldn't handle the fact that I had ended a life just like that. As the sound of the Snowdrake's cry ringed in my head, a sickening knot twisted up in my stomach, and I felt like vomiting.

Soon I felt something beside me and a warm presence on my back. I weakly turned my head and looked up, my eyes being met by a pair of familiar red orbs. Strangely, it almost seemed like Chara's gaze was one of sympathy rather than their usual cold and strict expression. They had placed their hand on my back, lightly rubbing the skin through the cloth of my sweater and telling me to calm down. They continued this for a long moment before awkwardly stopping and standing, shuffling back a bit as their eyes returned to the bitter look I was so accustomed to.

"Stop acting like a big baby and get up. The rest of these monsters aren't gonna kill themselves, ya know," they scowled and nudged my side with their foot. I sniffed and struggled to stand, my legs like jelly underneath me. After a short struggle, I was finally able to stand correctly and walk without face-planting back in the snow. Chara nodded in satisfaction before picking up the knife I had dropped, which was now in front of a pile of grey dust rather than the body of the Snowdrake I had just killed. I stared at this in confusion, not understanding why there was no evidence of murder other than the dust pile. Chara noticed this and seemed to understand what I was confused about.

"When monsters die, their bodies turn to dust. And, since a monster's soul and body are so closely related, their soul disappears, only leaving the dust behind," they explained. I nodded to show I understood, still not quite over the fact that I had just committed murder.

"Anyway, we need to go now," Chara beckoned for me to follow them before heading back in the direction of Snowdin. Feebly, I followed close behind, my soul filling me with rushes of angst, sadness, anger, bitterness, and calmness combined into one giant wave with every beat against my chest.   
It was a strange feeling, one that I couldn't possibly describe in mere words. It was almost similar to what would be considered love, but at the same time it was too painful to even be close to it.

However, I pressed on, trying to ignore it as best as I could. Because it seemed that in this world, it was either kill everything, or be killed by the only one I could depend on.


	5. Sans & Papyrus

We had returned to Snowdin shortly after we began walking, and were now about halfway through the small town. My soul had absorbed itself back into my body, but the strange and uncomfortable feelings continued to linger inside me. My legs felt heavy like lead and it was becoming harder to breathe with each step I took. Every once in a while, my thoughts would shift back to the Snowdrake and its saddening cry of death. While I told myself I wouldn't kill again and that I should feel guilty for what I did, there was a strange, almost pleasant emotion that stayed within myself. I could only just barely feel it, but it was definitely there.

We soon came upon a average-sized wooden building that seemed to mark the end of Snowdin. Beside it were two similar dull mailboxes, the one on the left ridiculously overflowing with mail. An orangish glow light shone over the snow from a window next to the door, which Chara had already proceeded to knock on.

I hurried over to Chara and stood behind them, peeking around their shoulder and staring at the door in curiosity. A slightly large, leafy wreath was hung beside the door handle and below another window that looked in upon what I now guessed to be a room of a house. "Where are we? And why are we here?" I whispered cautiously. Chara simply looked over and smiled slightly.

"I just wanted to introduce you to two monsters I know. They'll be pleased to see another human besides me," they responded. After a few seconds, the door creaked opened and a rather tall, skinny monster stood in the doorway, looking down upon us. But this wasn't just any monster...

...He was a skeleton.

I stared up at him with wide eyes and I felt my mouth drop open in both slight fear and awe. It was like looking at something out of a cartoon, only this was definitely real. His pure white skull, long and smooth, shaped down into two rows of large and wide teeth. Above the teeth was an upside-down heart-shaped hollow nose, along with a pair of equally empty holes that probably served as eyes.   
He seemed to be smiling down at us, a red scarf comfortably wrapped around his neck. His body was oddly shaped, and he seemed to be wearing some sort of costume that covered both his rib area and below a thin bone where his stomach would be. He also adorned a pair of red gloves and a matching pair of large boots.

"Hello there!" he spoke up in a peppy, loud, and unique voice that was unlike any other I had heard before. "I see you've returned, human?" he seemed to be directing his speech to Chara, not yet noticing my presence.

Chara beamed up at the skeleton with a smile that was clearly forced, but he didn't even notice, or perhaps just didn't care. "I have, Papyrus. And I brought somebody with me," Chara replied before pushing me toward him, causing me to stumble forward and almost hit him.

"A-Another human!!" the skeleton gasped in utter surprise as he looked down at me. "I cannot believe this! Two humans in one day! It must be a world record! Nyeh heh heh!" he began to laugh oddly, clearly excited. Chara just rolled their eyes, still managing to keep their fake smile. Soon, he stopped laughing and straightened up, standing with a prideful posture. "I must tell Sans that I, the Great Papyrus, have captured not just one human, but two!" with that, he turned around and went back inside, yelling out for whoever Sans was.

I looked over to Chara, a bit puzzled. Their smile quickly shifted back into a scowl, their red eyes hardening once again. I frowned at this, not entirely sure why they always seemed so unhappy and disappointed. I sighed, moving my gaze down to my feet. Sure, they were a heartless killer who was probably insane, but they were my only chance. If I was going to rely on somebody, I at least wanted them to be somewhat happy and not so glum.

Moments later, the tall skeleton, who I now guessed was named Papyrus, returned, this time a much shorter one by his side.

I couldn't help but stare at the small skeleton, a strange sense of dread forming inside me. His skull was wider than Papyrus' and he wore a thick blue jacket with white fur covering the inside, more fluffed up at the collar. Chills traveled up and down my spine as I examined his expression. A seemingly permanent, wide grin shaped out of teeth made up his "mouth", and his eyes were nothing more than black voids with a tiny white pinprick of light dotted inside each one. I stepped back, becoming increasingly wary, and gently tugged at the sleeve of Chara's sweater, causing them to grunt in slight annoyance.

"See, Sans? I have succeeded in capturing TWO humans! Now Undyne will finally let me into the Royal Guard!!" Papyrus exclaimed joyfully, obviously proud of himself. The small skeleton eyed me carefully before quietly chuckling.

"Good job, bro. I'm proud of ya," he replied lazily, his voice low with a laid-back tone. He continued to stare me down, his glance occasionally flickering over to Chara and turning into a hard glare. Chara, of course, would glare black, their eyes becoming noticeably darker with each second that passed.

Thankfully, Papyrus broke this by speaking once again. "Now humans, it is time for the solving of puzzles!" he announced, quickly taking one of our hands in each of his own and pulling us away from the house back into the direction of the forest. However, the other skeleton by the name of Sans grabbed Papyrus by one of his bony arms, stopping him.

"Hey, bro, it's getting kinda late, and they're probably tired. Maybe you should hold off the puzzles until tomorrow?" he stated. I looked around me and realized just how dark it really was getting. A dull shade was enveloping the area, similar to an usual night above the Underground and on the surface. Papyrus reluctantly nodded, agreeing with Sans.

"Eh... alright. I shall let the humans rest," he hesitantly led us back over to the house and beckoned Chara and me inside, treating us as if we were close acquaintances.

As I took a look around, I was surprised at how normal the interior really was compared to the skeletons. To the right was a wooden table, the only thing on top of it being a small grey rock. To the left was a bright green couch that was placed in front of a semi-large TV on top of a stand. Beside the TV was a single sock with many sticky notes plastered all over it. Near that was an entrance to a kitchen, and on the other side a small set of stairs that probably led to the bedrooms of the two skeletons.

While I examined everything in curiosity, Chara took no interest in anything whatsoever. Instead, they plopped down onto the couch and laid their head on the left arm, placing their feet on the one parallel to it. Once I was satisfied and had quenched my interest, I walked back over to the couch and gently shoved Chara's legs away, immediately sitting down on the free cushion before they could place their legs there again. They scowled in annoyance but their expression showed that they were somewhat impressed with my sudden boldness. I couldn't help but smile at this, feeling slightly proud of myself for the first time since I had fallen in the Underground. However, Chara snickered as they moved their legs on top of my lap instead, earning a pouty glare from me. I pushed them off again, only for them to do it once more. We continued to do this for quite a while before I finally gave up and sighed, Chara's amused chuckles filling me with embarrassment and disappointment.

Papyrus and Sans, who had been watching the two of us the entire time, seemed baffled by what was going on, the light in their eyes showing slight concern. But after a few seconds they quickly shrugged the odd behavior off, most likely choosing to ignore it.

Papyrus then marched over and stood in front of us, placing his hands on either side of his hip bone. "I suppose you two wish to share the couch tonight?" he questioned.

Chara's eyebrows raised as they heard this, their smile quickly turning back into a frown. "What??" they choked out, just as confused as I was.

"And since you both seem quite comfortable like this, I, the Great Papyrus, will allow you both to sleep on this couch for the night!" he stated, standing with a sense of pride.

Chara nearly choked when they heard this. "Are you crazy?! There's no way I'd ever want to sleep next to them! Don't you have any extra rooms or beds or something?!" they sat up and attempted to reason with the skeleton, clearly flustered by his decision.

"Nope!" Papyrus replied, failing to acknowledge Chara's obvious distaste. They growled in frustration and shot an angry glare towards me, as if it was my fault that we had to share the couch.

"Anyway, I suppose you need some pillows and blankets!" Papyrus continued and turned to Sans. "Brother! Please go get the extras from my closet!" Sans nodded and headed up the stairs, entering a door with yellow caution tape and a red stop sign on the front, which I guessed to be the entrance to Papyrus' room.

Soon, Sans came back with two large pillows and a couple of thick blankets, throwing them down on the floor in front of us. "There ya go," he winked at us, and I could see how entertained he was with Chara's reaction.

"Thank you, Sans! Now that you two have what you need, we'll be off to bed as well. Good night, humans!" and with that said, the two skeleton brothers turned and entered their respected rooms, Papyrus turning off the light on his way and leaving the two of us in the dark.

Chara grumbled but picked up the pillows and blankets, throwing one of each at me. "You can sleep on the floor," they said before impolitely shoving me off the couch and onto the ground.

I gaped up at them in shock, a bit startled by their actions. I should have expected it to happen, but I had believed from the events from earlier that we had suddenly become friends with one another. I guess I was wrong.

I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it before I had a chance. I sighed in defeat, deciding it was best not to argue with them and ruin any chances of possible friendship in the future.

Without another word, Chara turned away from me and faced the back of the couch, resting their head on the pillow and warmly slipping their blanket around them. I did the same, but instead turned toward the blank black screen of the TV rather than toward them.

The house was now deathly quiet, save for the calm rhythmic beating of my soul inside me. I closed my eyes and tried to shut the noise out, focusing on other things instead. As I slowly began to drift off into sleep, I picked up the quiet sound of Chara's breathing up above me, and found myself amazed at just how soothing it was. It was so gentle and tranquil, totally different from their personality. I would even go as far to say that it was almost... cute in a way. I smiled slightly and closed my eyes, letting the soft sound flood my ears and comfort me.

Soon enough, I was lulled into a deep sleep, surprisingly having pleasant dreams... all from the snores of a killer.


	6. Dream of a Memory

Chara's POV

I was all alone. Everything was dark and I couldn't see a thing. There was no sound, only my short and shaky breaths keeping me company besides the fear of being completely isolated.

Fear... it seemed as if that was the one thing I always felt inside me, no matter what I did or where I went. It was unavoidable, and sometimes it would take over my entire body like a plague, tightly squeezing the oxygen out of my lungs and petrifying me to the point where I couldn't even stand to be around myself.

Heh... guess it wasn't just everybody else who hated me too.

As I began to close my eyes and attempt to calm myself, the sound of quiet shuffling echoed in my ears. I lifted my head up and looked about frantically, all of my senses now alert to anything and everything around me. The noise grew louder and closer until it suddenly stopped as I felt a presence beside me.

Slowly, I looked up from where I laid, and my eyes met with a familiar pair that was much more terrified than my own.

"M-mom...?" I choked out, my voice cracking as I did so. Toriel stared down at me in disbelief, her mouth agape in shock.

"Could... Could it be?" she whispered, her tone soft yet tinted with dismay. I slowly stood, not breaking eye contact, and half smiled up at her.

"Mom... It's me, Chara. You remember me, don't you?" I spoke, stepping a bit closer to her. That was when she suddenly broke, kneeling down and holding me close to her in a warm and familiar embrace. I shut my eyes tightly as her paws clung to my sweater protectively.

"I cannot believe you are here!" her voice vibrated lovingly in my ears like it had done so long ago. "I thought that I had lost both of my children.."

I immediately froze as I heard those words. "What do you mean 'both of your children??" I pushed her away and stared at her with a puzzled expression, a deep feeling of dread forming in my stomach. She slowly backed away, her gentle eyes filling with sadness. That was when it clicked in my mind. "Wait... where's Asriel?!" I began to panic, memories of the moments I shared with the goat child who was like the sibling I never had flooding into my mind. Did something happen to him? No. There was no way. He had to be here.

"My child...," Toriel looked away, noticeable tears forming in her eyes. A sickening sensation overcame me before quickly being replaced by pure anger. I felt my hands unconsciously ball up into fists, my nails sharply digging into the skin of my palm.

"WHERE IS ASRIEL?!" I shouted loudly, my face flushed with rage. Toriel flinched, her eyes widening in shock at my sudden outburst. The tears began to silently trickle down her face, her usually calm appearance now one of sadness and regret.

"I'm sorry my child, but... he's dead... your brother is dead," she could barely utter out the words as she started to quietly weep, her white fur now damp with teardrops.

No. It couldn't be true. She had to be lying. I refused to believe it. I could feel my body mentally break as I shook my head, both my mind and soul attempting to push what she had said away, but failing and shutting down instead. "You... you're lying... you're LYING! He can't be dead!" I screamed at her, my eyes bloodshot and full of red-hot insanity. Toriel stood up, reaching out for me, probably trying to comfort me and tell me everything was going to be alright. I slapped her paw away as I looked at her in disgust and hostility, knowing better than to believe that it would all be fine.

That was it for me. I had reached my breaking point, something I thought I had finally managed to stray away from. My thoughts had collapsed into a swarm of nothing but a blurry mess of madness, despair, and most of all, fear. I had snapped in half, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

I grabbed the knife I had always kept in my back pocket and pulled it out, swiftly swinging it towards her and striking her flawlessly, dealing the most damage possible. Her pupils shrank in horror at what I had just done before she collapsed to the ground, gasping in agony.

"M-my child... w... why?" she managed to whisper hoarsely and painfully before her soul shattered, disappearing into nothingness, and all that remained of her was a small mound of sparkling grey dust.

As I stood there, my eyes fixed down on the ashes, a variety of mixed emotions flowed through me, separating me into two sides. One side of me couldn't believe my own actions, but the other was pleased of what I had done, thinking it was the right decision. 

After a moment of dead silence, I started to laugh. Whether it was from my own insanity or from my mind trying to comfort me was a total mystery. My laughing just grew louder and louder before it faltered as tears streamed down my face and fell onto the dust pile that was once where Toriel had stood, leaving dark spots and blotches of what symbolized my own misery and fearfulness.

Soon, the sound of my voice diminished as everything around me vanished into nothing but darkness.

\---------------------

My eyes shot open as I suddenly awoke, my clothes damp with sweat and my face covered in tears. I breathed out deeply in an attempt to calm down and stop crying. Instead, I only made it worse, and broke down into an uncontrollable mess.

The other human, who had been sleeping peacefully, was disrupted from their slumber due to my own ignorance. They lazily sat up and looked in my direction, their eyes half-closed in grogginess. With a loud yawn, they blinked up at me in confusion.

"Chara..? What's all the noise about?" they asked, their voice full of concern. I tried to ignore them, still crying as the memory played over and over again in my head like a song on repeat. They slowly stood and sat beside me on the couch. I quickly scooted away, not wanting them to see me in such a weak and pathetic state. "Chara? What's wrong? Why are you crying..?" they shifted closer and gently placed a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch. I turned the other way and sniffed, searching my mind for an excuse.

"I... I had a bad dream," I replied feebly. It wasn't exactly a lie, so hopefully they would believe it and leave me alone.

They stared at me with an unamused expression, obviously not believing me. "Chara, I know you're lying. You out of all people would not be crying this much over a bad dream."

I swerved and faced them, about to snap and curse out of anger, but instantly stopped. The moonlight from the window near the couch enveloped them in a whitish blue aura, brilliantly accenting all of their features. Only in that moment did I realize just how stunning they were; their hair, their eyes, their skin, and especially their perfectly full lips. Instead of arguing like I had originally planned, I found myself just gazing at them, too stunned to speak. They blinked rapidly and tilted their head in puzzlement, the deep pool of color that was their eyes meeting my own blood-red ones with genuine affection and interest. I took a deep breath, my heart pounding loudly in my chest, and shook my head to escape my trance.

"Chara, please. Tell me what happened. I want to help you," they said soothingly and took my hands in their own, running their fingers ever so lightly over my knuckles while smiling warmly at me. I stayed silent and stared down at the floor, suddenly feeling shy. These feelings... they weren't normal at all. Whatever they were doing was definitely calming me down, but was gradually infecting me with a new kind of fear. Something that wasn't right, and was probably considered dangerous in my book.

So, with a long sigh, I finally replied. "I... I'm fine now. Don't worry about me," I lied, faking a smile in return to their own. I convinced myself that it was for their own good not to know about the flashbacks and memories. At least for now, that is. Their smile faintly disappeared, being replaced by a slight frown.

"Well, alright. If you say so," they slid their hands off of mine and yawned, their tiredness showing once again. Without even making an attempt to return to their spot on the floor, they flopped on top of me, laying their head on my chest and almost instantly falling asleep. I felt my face heat up at this sudden action, several mixed emotions rising in me at once. I repeatedly poked their face and hissed their name, hoping they would wake up so they could move, but to no avail. They were already snoring, a sign that they were in too deep of a sleep to wake up anytime soon. So, with an aggravated sigh, I decided to accept it, despite my discomfort. With only the slightest of hesitance, I moved so I could rest my head back on my pillow and covered both of us up with a blanket. Then I closed my eyes, allowing myself to enter my own state of rest.


	7. Puns & Spaghetti

Reader's POV

"SAAANS! NOT FUNNY!"

I was quickly awoken by the sound of yelling and loud but muffled stomping nearby. I groggily opened my eyes and looked around, trying to adjust them to the sudden presence of light so I could see what exactly all the noise was about. After a few seconds of nothing but failure, I gave up, lazily resting my head back on what I thought was my pillow.   
However, I was swiftly proven mistaken when I felt somebody's hand rest on my head. I tensed up, not sure who or what it could be. I searched my mind, trying to remember what exactly happened the night before.

Not soon after, all the events from last night quickly flooded back into my memory in a tidal wave of shock and confusion. I instantly froze, shifting my gaze up to the sleeping form that was Chara.

I had fallen asleep on Chara.

It took me a moment for this piece of information to process inside my brain, but once it did, I felt my insides churn in fear and my mind mentally scream.

I had fallen asleep... on Chara.

The sentence repeated in my head over and over like a broken record, replaying all the details of the events from last night. However, with each thought, I only became more puzzled. Chara had been crying, which was an odd thing of them to do. Sure, I hadn't known them for too long, but I knew it wasn't normal behavior for them. And I was concerned. They had simply brushed it off, blaming it on a mere nightmare. But I knew better than that. They were hiding something from me, and while as much as I wanted to figure out what it was, I had to keep my focus on the current task at hand...

I began to furiously sweat, it suddenly coming to my realization just how dire this situation really was. If Chara awoke now and noticed my body curled up against theirs, they would most definitely kill me right on the spot. There was no doubt about that.   
I had to find a way to move off of them without disturbing their sleep. It was either life or death, and I most certainly did not want to die.

I breathed in and slightly shifted, about to slide myself off of them, when I heard more yelling and loud snickering. I quickly looked over to see the two skeleton brothers standing in front of the couch. Sans, who was holding a camera, was trying not to laugh while Papyrus was shouting loudly at him.

"Sans! This isn't funny! The humans are trying to sleep, and they shouldn't be disturbed! Taking pictures is disturbing them!" Papyrus' voice rang in my ears quite clearly, causing me to flinch. I glanced over at Chara, afraid that his loudness would awake them. Thankfully, they only grunted quietly, changing their position in discomfort. I sighed in relief and turned my head back to the skeletons, curious as to what was going on.

"But bro, this is funny. Besides, this will make good blackmail material, heheh," Sans grinned widely and snapped a couple of photos of Chara and me, most likely not noticing that I was awake and fully alert to what he was doing. I conspicuously cleared my throat to gain their attention, earning a small gasp from Papyrus in return.

"Sans!! That human is awake now! I told you that you were bothering them!!" he stomped his foot down and threw his hands up in the air, making an unintentionally amusing and overly noisy scene.

Sans just rolled his eyes and shrugged, beaming up at his brother. "Sorry bro. But hey–it was worth a shot, am I right?" he nudged the tall skeleton, his expression one of pride. While it took a moment for the terrible pun to sink in for the boisterous brother, I caught it almost immediately. I snorted and couldn't help but laugh, Sans chuckling along with me.

"SANS! OH MY GOD!!" Papyrus shouted angrily and his usually happy look changed to one of pure annoyance.

"C'mon bro, I know you liked that one. You're just a bit upset because it didn't click with you right away," As Sans cracked another pun, I could see how entertained he was by the way he smiled at Papyrus, who was the exact opposite of amused.

"UGH! Whatever! I'm going to make some spaghetti. Wake up the other human!" and with that, he stormed out of the room and into the kitchen. Sans sighed but reluctantly walked closer to the couch and to Chara, doing what he was told. He slowly reached one bony finger out and forcefully poked one of their rosy cheeks before quickly pulling away. They whined in frustration, but opened their bright red eyes anyway.

And of course, the first thing they happened to notice was me.

With a panicked screech, they immediately removed their hand from my head and shoved me down onto the floor. I groaned unhappily and pushed myself up, shooting a glare up at them. Their pupils had shrank considerably into a pool of mixed emotions, discomfort probably being one of them.

Sans frowned at them, a mysterious soft blue glow in one of his eye sockets showing his displeasure to their behavior. They simply ignored him and huffed, running a hand through their messy hair before jumping off the couch and making their way into the kitchen without a single word.

There was a long pause of dead silence in the room before I let out a sigh in both relief and disappointment. Relief because I hadn't been murdered, and disappointment because for some reason, I had expected something more; although getting pushed to the floor was a million times better than being stabbed.

"You okay, kid?" Sans questioned. I only nodded, keeping my gaze down at the floor. He gently placed a hand on my shoulder and frowned, oddly concerned.

"Hey, it seems like it's kinda tough to hang around them. All I can say is be careful of what they do, alright? Don't let them bully you around," and with that, he patted my back in encouragement before going upstairs and entering his room, letting quietness fill the air again. I thought about what he had said, the words sinking into my brain. First of all, how did he know if it was hard to be around Chara? Had he experienced being around them firsthand? And secondly, what did he mean by being careful? Was he aware of their intentions but just hadn't said anything about it? All these questions had just formed and, of course, were without answers, but they were already beginning to tug at my mind and fill me with impatience and a thirst for more knowledge about the strange skeleton.

"The spaghetti is ready!" Papyrus' excited voice suddenly rang out, fully breaking the stillness and distracting me from my thoughts. I perked up as I heard the mention of food and quickly began to walk to the kitchen, my stomach growling in a hunger that I had failed to notice earlier.

When I entered the kitchen, I found Papyrus pridefully standing before a stove with a gigantic tin full of spaghetti. I looked around to see Chara standing beside him. They were holding a plate of the same spaghetti along with a fork, and their face was twisted in revulsion.

"Ah! There you are, other human! You finally get to have a taste of my amazing spaghetti!" Papyrus handed me a fork and a plate and used a large metal spoon to plop the noodles and sauce on top. "Do not worry! I, the Great Papyrus, makes the best spaghetti sauce in the entire land! You shall not be disappointed!"

Just as I raised the fork to my mouth and was about to take a bite, I caught Chara out of the corner of my eye furiously shaking their head and mouthing the word "no" and the phrase "don't do it". I blinked a couple of times, confused by their strange behavior. They continued doing this, eager to get me to stop for whatever reason. I shrugged, deciding to ignore them, and took a bite anyway.

As I chewed, I felt all eyes on me and a cold moment of silence fill the room. It took a second before the flavor kicked in, but when it did, it caused me to nearly double over and vomit. It tasted terrible, almost rotten even, and was like eating something out of a garbage can.

"Well? What do you think?" Papyrus stared eagerly at me, waiting for my opinion. I was about to spit it out and ask him what exactly he put in the sauce to make it taste so bad, but when I looked over, his hopeful expression stopped me. He really believed his spaghetti was good, and I couldn't bear to hurt his feelings. So, with a calm smile, I forced myself to swallow and gave him the thumbs up. His eyes sparked with excitement and he began to run around the kitchen happily.

"Nyeh heh heh! I knew you would like it!" he shouted, stopping and randomly placing a scoop of spaghetti noodles on top of his skull before posing like a hero who had just saved the world. While my heart melted at this adorable scene, Chara, who had moved and was now standing next to me, scoffed and rolled their eyes.

"Are you really that stupid?! Your spaghetti tastes like complete and utter sh-," before they could continue, I slapped a hand over their mouth.

"Shh! You can't just hurt his feelings like that! He'll be devastated!" I whispered harshly. They pulled my hand away and sighed.

"What? Do you really think lying to him is better than telling him the truth? If you do that, he's going to keep making more and will make us eat it, thinking that we actually like it. So, would you rather suffer again, or actually help him out plus save ourselves?" they whispered back. I looked down at the floor shamefully, knowing that they had a good point. But, I also knew that there was certain times when telling the truth wasn't exactly the best option, and this was one of those times. Besides, the tall skeleton didn't deserve to be hurt like that. Spaghetti was clearly his passion, and it would be a sin to take that away from him.

With a deep inhale, I looked Chara straight in the eyes and replied, "Don't ruin what he loves for him, alright? This is his hobby, what he cares about. I know you're not the type to actually let others be happy, but I am, and I'm going to force you to spare him whether you like it or not." Chara blinked in surprise at this, not used to this sudden boost in confidence and harsh change in the way I spoke.

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when you're dying from food poisoning," they grumbled. I simply ignored their comment and smiled in satisfaction before turning back to Papyrus and his silly antics. I found myself laughing at how child-like he was, my questions about Sans the last thing on my mind.


	8. The Invisible Electricity Maze

Later that day, Papyrus led both Chara and me back into Snowdin Forest to take part in what he said was the most difficult puzzles in all of the Underground.  
We had been trudging along in the snow for a while until we reached a small clearing close to the entrance of the wintery woodland.

"Here we will begin with the first puzzle!" Papyrus proclaimed enthusiastically and stayed on the far opposite end of us. I carefully inspected the area, searching for the puzzle he was talking about. However, the entire place seemed to be completely barren, save for the clusters of pine trees nearby.

"Um... Papyrus? There's nothing here," I stated. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chara nodding in agreement.

"But that is where you are wrong, human! The puzzle IS here! It just happens to be invisible!" the tall skeleton replied.

"An invisible puzzle?" I tilted my head in puzzlement, (AN: Ha, it's a pun. =w=) finding the existence of such a thing to be a bit strange.

Papyrus nodded excitedly. "Indeed human! But it's not just any invisible puzzle... It's an invisible electricity maze!!"

This surprised both Chara and me. We looked at each other in disbelief, most likely wondering the same thing: How in the world could an invisible electric maze even work??

"Anyway, let us get started! Nyeh heh heh! Now... which one of you would like to go first?"   
I slowly began to step back but was stopped when Chara forcefully pushed me forward.

"Y/N does," they smiled smugly and crossed their arms. I blinked at them in surprise and was about to object, but was stopped when I felt a heavy weight on the top of my head.

"This is an orb, human! You see, the walls of this maze are filled with electricity, and if you touch them while holding that orb, you will get the shock of your life!" he began to laugh at his own pun, but quickly quieted down. "Oh God... I'm turning into Sans..."

"Haha... that's nice," I nervously smiled and took the orb off of my head, instead carefully holding it against my chest. I glanced back at Chara with pleading eyes, but they simply smiled in amusement. I let out a heavy sigh and slowly turned back to Papyrus.

"Um, quick question: Don't you think this is kinda dangerous? I mean, I'm no expert on puzzles or anything, but I'm pretty sure that this one is a teensy bit on the extreme side," I attempted to reason with him.

"Hmm...," he squinted and rubbed his chin, thinking about it. In my mind, I silently hoped that he would skip this puzzle and move on to a much safer one. After a minute or two of silence, his wide smile returned and he shook his head vigorously. "Nah! I think it's completely safe!" Hearing him say this, I pursed my lips to hold back a defeated groan.

"Whatever you say," I mumbled and stepped up to the maze's entrance. I could feel my palms begin to sweat profusely, leaving dark marks on the orb I held and causing me to slightly lose my grip. I took a deep breath to calm myself and gradually took a few steps forward, letting my feet sink into the snow. Looking down, I found footprints in front of me that clearly were not mine. Scanning the rest of the snowy area ahead of me, I noticed even more in a zigzag pattern leading to the other end that Papyrus had been earlier before giving me the orb. As I stood there in confusion, it slowly began to dawn on me that Papyrus had made the mistake of going through his own puzzle to give me the orb, and his footsteps in the snow gave the way out of the maze. With a small smile, I casually followed the prints all the way to the end of the maze, a sense of relief washing over me from not being electrocuted and having the solution practically handed over to me.

From the other side of the maze, I could see Papyrus gawking in amazement. "Well done, human! I cannot believe you actually did it!" he yelled excitedly and clapped his hands. Chara didn't say a word, and I could tell they weren't impressed in the slightest. They probably knew I had used the footsteps to get through it, but I didn't mind. All that mattered was that I had gotten through alive.

"Now on to the next puzzle!" Papyrus shouted immediately and beckoned for us to walk behind him as he marched into the woods. Chara waited for me to catch up and we followed him as he led us to a long day of nothing but ridiculous, time-consuming, and error-ridden puzzles.


	9. Unexpected News

Several days had went by since I had experienced the electric maze and the rest of Papyrus'... well, interesting puzzles, to say the least. As those days began to slowly turn into weeks, I began to feel as if the skeleton brothers were like my second family. I found myself absolutely adoring Papy (the nickname given to him by Sans) with his loud and cheerful personality. More often than not I was usually involved in his strange antics, yet found genuine joy in his presence. As for Sans, however, my thoughts concerning him that I had tried to keep in the back of my mind still lingered. Each time I approached him with one of my questions about Chara or him, he would either brush them off like they were nothing or ignore me altogether. The laid-back skeleton was a complete and total mystery, and it seemed that he wanted it to stay that way. Despite this, I couldn't help but laugh at his consistent puns and sometimes even joined in on annoying his brother with them.

Chara, on the other hand, was not such a pleasure to hang around with. In fact, they were only becoming increasingly more short-tempered and impatient with each day that passed. I couldn't even get near them without being given a vicious death glare, let alone attempt to hold a conversation with them. Every once in a while, I would catch them gazing longingly out the window. It was clear that they were restless from being here for so long. While I knew that we had to get moving soon, and I truly wanted nothing more than to see my family again, I couldn't bear to leave my new friends behind; they meant too much to me at this point. I was almost certain that Chara knew this.

But that didn't stop them from their sick and twisted ways...

\---------------------

It was a fairly chilly day in Snowdin, as usual. After persuading Sans to let me borrow a handful of money, I had ventured off to take a stroll through the quaint town after reassuring a suspicious Chara that I wasn't actually planning to flee. Although I was forced to listen to some overly graphic threats from the murderer before I left, my curiosity of the shops I had most likely failed to notice before was enough to push away my fear. 

Several hours later, I had arrived back with a few bags of goodies and lunch from Grillby's. "I'm here!" I chirped cheerfully as I burst through the door, a happy smile plastered on my face. But that smile quickly faltered when I was met with nothing but the quiet ticking of a clock.

"Um... hello? Anybody home?" After another moment of silence, I finally closed the door behind me with my foot and stepped into the living room. I placed the bags on the floor and proceeded to look around for any signs of life. First, I checked Papy's room. It was virtually barren other than the action figures on the table that looked to be untouched. With a deep-set frown, I left the room and headed to the kitchen. It had remained pretty much the same as before I had left, only a large pot of uncooked spaghetti (what a surprise) was sitting on the counter. I let out a huff and ventured back into the living room, now completely baffled by the situation. Not even Chara, the one who was wary about me leaving, was present. 

I plopped down onto the couch with a sigh. Maybe they had gone out shopping as well and I just missed them? Or perhaps Papyrus was torturing Chara with some new puzzles? Those seemed to be the most logical reasons...

As I pondered it all over, the unusual silence was suddenly broken when I heard a muffled voice close nearby. I quickly froze and listened, hoping my mind wasn't just playing tricks on me. Soon enough the voice came again, this time a bit louder and with what sounded like sniffling. I stood up and followed the sound only to arrive right in front of the one place I never would have expected...

San's room.

I gulped nervously and stared at the door. The skeleton had warned me multiple times to never, under any circumstances, enter his room. Yet as I continued to listen to what I now guessed was choked sobs coming from the other side, I couldn't help but shakily raise my hand to the doorknob and hesitantly turn it. The door quietly clicked open, allowing me entry. As I anxiously pushed it open, the sight before me made my breath hitch in my throat. 

There was Sans, wrapped in a familiar red scarf on his bed. His body was pressed against the corner of the wall while an onslaught of damp tears rolled down his cheeks. His hollow eyes held a faint blue glow, and what I had originally thought to be a permanent smile etched on his face was now transformed into a pained and sullen frown. This sight alone put me at a loss for words.

After finally managing to find my voice, I decided to speak up. Something was clearly troubling the skeleton, and I couldn't just stand there and watch. "S-Sans...? What's wrong?" I asked rather meekly. Sans moved his head upward, peering at me with a hazy look that I could only assume was distress. 

"Y/N? Why are you here? I thought you were out shopping," his voice trailed off and he quickly averted his gaze, ignoring my question. 

"I was but I finished already. I bought everybody lunch and even a few gifts," I gestured toward the living room, hoping that might cheer him up. But unfortunately, it only seemed to make matters worse as he suddenly broke into sobs once again. I shifted uncomfortably, a wave of dread beginning to churn in my stomach. "Sans?" I prodded, but it was if he forgot I was even there. 

With slight uneasiness, I made my way over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. He flinched but carefully rose his surprisingly fearful eyes to stare into mine. "Sans, it's alright. I'm here to help you. Now will you please tell me what's bothering you so much?" I smiled gently at the skeleton, hoping he would calm down and finally talk to me. He took a shaky breath and nodded, his bony hands gripping the scarf tighter.

"C-Chara... P-Papyrus... they...," he choked on his words as more tears began to form. He sniffled and used the cloth around him to wipe them away to the best of his ability. I sighed but waited patiently for him to settle down, knowing that whatever he was about to tell me had deeply impacted him. Soon he managed to focus his attention back on me, and with a strained, mournful tone, said three words I would never forget.

"Chara killed Papyrus."


	10. Chara's Secret

My eyes widened in disbelief at the skeleton's words. Chara wouldn't do something like that, would they? Especially since they knew how much Papyrus meant to both Sans and me. Mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and confusion began to bubble up inside of me and cloud my sense of rationality. "Is this another one of your stupid jokes, Sans? You do realize it's not funny, right?" my voice nearly rose to a shout. I crossed my arms and swallowed my rising fear, silently hoping that it actually was just some kind of sick prank.

He glared up at me with a look of both pain and disgust. "Do you really think that I'd joke about my own brother's death?" he retorted, his voice faltering at the end as tears began to fill his hollow eyes once more. I shifted my gaze downward in shame for even suspecting in the slightest that this was a joke. There was much more to Sans than just horrible puns and childish jokes - and that showed in the way he gingerly stroked the bright fabric of Papyrus' scarf and the misery laced in each and every word he spoke.

After a long moment of silence, I reluctantly wrapped my arms around his frame and pulled him into a tight but sympathetic embrace. At first he ignored the gesture, but it wasn't long before he was returning the hug. I soothed him to the best of my ability, stroking his skull and allowing him to stain my sweater with his tears.

After what felt like hours, I finally spoke up. "Can you tell me where it happened?" I asked as gently as possible.

He removed his head from my shoulder and gave a small sniffle. "In the outskirts of Snowdin. Near Waterfall," he raised a finger and pointed out the window above his bed.

I nodded absentmindedly and thought about where Chara would have fled to after a murder as grave as this. If the location was any clue, my guess would be that they would be somewhere in Waterfall.

"Alright," I said with a newfound determination. I managed to pry myself away from him and quickly made my way back into the living room and to the front door. Just as I was about to turn the doorknob, I was stopped by the panicked voice of Sans yelling for me to wait.

"What are you gonna do?" he questioned in an uncharacteristically worried tone. Even from a distance, I could feel his eyes bore into me as if he could see straight into my soul.

I didn't bother to turn around. Instead, I opened the door and took a deep breath as the chilly air of the outside overwhelmed every bit of warmth I had from the heat of the house. I could taste the saltiness of the tears I had fought back this entire time and I angrily wiped them away with my sleeve before he could notice. "I'm going to find Chara," I finally answered, stepping out and slamming the door behind me before he could have a chance to object.

\---------------------

I traversed through the powdered terrain, shivering violently with every step that I took. I couldn't tell if it was because of the cold or from fear.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before I was standing in front of the entrance to Waterfall. It was only then that I truly started questioning my actions. What was I going to do if I did happen to find Chara? Scold them? They're a literal murderer; they would end my life in a heartbeat if they so desired. I shook my head and pushed my concerns as far back in my mind as possible. I would cross that bridge when I came to it. Without procrastinating any longer, I stepped into the looming darkness that awaited me.

At first glance, it seemed to resemble a quiet cave lit with a dim blue light. The only thing that showed any sign of human life was a wooden hot dog stand that I assumed belonged to Sans, as I recalled that he had briefly mentioned it before. But as I went deeper in, I found myself encountering several small, easily solvable puzzles, such as avoiding falling rocks, that were too simple and plain to have been Papy's.

After crossing a small gap of water with the help of some strange flowers, I entered an area that contained the same plants with an even larger casm of water. I decided to take a small break and made my way over to the water's edge. The calming blue light of Waterfall cast a shimmering glow over the surface that was so surreal yet so natural. I gazed down at my reflection, something I hadn't seen for weeks. I wasn't surprised to find that my hair was a tangled, dirt-ridden disaster and the sunken bags under my eyes showed my lack of sleep. My lips were chapped beyond repair, and my stained sweater had seen better days. I was a pathetic sight.

Tears began to fill the brim of my eyes, but this time I let them trickle down my cheeks before they silently plopped into the water below. I had resisted the urge to break down for so long that I could no longer hold back my misery. With clumsy movements, I sat down on the waterside and weakly hugged my knees to my chest. I didn't want to fall down a hole into a world of monsters and strange, demonic talking flowers. I didn't want to become enslaved to a psychopath. I didn't want to know that they had murdered one of my only reasons to be happy here. I didn't want any of this.

I just wanted to go home.

I continued to weep for what felt like hours before I heard the sound of footsteps dangerously close to me. I barely had enough time to turn my head when something lightly kicked my back and a familiar voice spoke up.

"Why are you here??" Chara asked snarkily. In any other situation, I would be terrified. But all of the anger and hatred that I had saved for this moment suddenly erupted with no warning whatsoever. Without even a hint of hesitance, I stood up and in one swift motion, smacked them across the face. Of course the hit didn't faze them too much. It was the shock of the impact that gave me the opening to grab them by the front of their sweater and pull them closer to me yet at a reasonable distance.

"Oh, don't start your bullshit with me. You know exactly why I'm here, Chara," I snapped with a seething rage that was enough to make their strangely dull eyes grow wide in astonishment and... fear? Chara was actually... afraid of me. I would have been petrified in surprise if the fact that the tables had turned wasn't giving me such an adrenaline rush.

"Oh my God... you... you're seriously scared," I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the irony of it all, and it was becoming clear that this mixed in with my emotional drainage was starting to take its toll on what little sanity I had that remained at an alarming pace. Chara was quick to notice this and attempted to speak.

"Look, Y/N, let me explain-," I cut them off with another slap, this one slightly harder than the first.

"Explain? Explain?! What is there to explain, huh? You murder Papyrus, the friendliest and most innocent creature I've ever met, and apparently there's some sort of explanation for that?" I shouted with a voice full of sorrow, confusion, and most of all, hurt. Tears flowed down my face once more, and my grip on their sweater loosened. Unable to pull myself together, I let go and collapsed to the ground.

All was silent other than the sound of my weeping and the soft hum of the water as it flowed on and on without a care in the world. Soon I heard Chara shuffle towards me and crouch down to my height. Several agonizingly long minutes passed, and then, without a word, they pulled me into their arms. I involuntarily flinched and let out a small whimper of distress.

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you. Just please... relax and let me speak." they shushed me and managed to calm me down with a gentle squeeze. I was tentative of the validity of what they had to say, but finally nodded in approval. They took a deep breath and hesitated for several seconds before speaking in a low and quiet voice.

"First of all, I'm just going to say this outright: I'm sorry. I truly am sorry," they said in a mournful and genuinely apologetic tone.

An apology. I had expected this, but not one that sounded so... real. I decided not to comment on it and let them continue.

"Second of all, the truth is that... I'm not the one who did it. Who killed Papyrus and all those other monsters."

I froze. What was that supposed to mean? I turned my entire body to face them and gave them a look that said they were even more insane than I originally thought. They returned it with a sad smile and a shake of their head.

"I know you don't believe me, but I'm being completely honest here. Y/N, I-," they closed their eyes as if fighting back their own tears, finding difficulty in continuing. I waited, my impatience rising with every second that passed.

At long last, they opened their eyes and took ahold of my arm. They stared me down with orbs that were a lighter shade than the ones that I had familiarized myself with, similar to the dull red that I had noticed during my meltdown. Once they were certain that my attention was on them, they spoke.

"Everything about me... my thoughts, my words, my actions.... are in someone else's control."


	11. A Childhood Worth Forgetting

At first I couldn’t speak. The very idea of Chara’s actions not being their own puzzled me and was completely far-fetched, but at the same time, I had a feeling they were telling the truth.

“But… how?” I looked up at them, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and they let out a deep sigh.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know myself. All I know is that it started when I was younger but consumed me when I fell into the Underground,” they admitted. I stayed silent, letting a long pause settle between us. The only thing keeping it from staying this way was my overwhelming need to know more.

“How did you end up falling into the Underground anyway?” I questioned. I felt their grip around me loosen and I knew I had touched a sore spot. 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I quickly added. They shook their head.

“No… you deserve to know. Especially after all the hell I’ve been putting you through,” they took a shaky breath. It was strange how much of a stark contrast there was between the Chara I traveled with and the one now holding me in their arms. Once they had gotten ahold of themselves, they began to speak.

\--------------------

As soon as the heavy doors were opened, an optimistic child with rosy cheeks ran among the other kids to the playground. While the others rushed to claim the swings, the child chose to wander over to the geometric dome dubbed as the spider web instead. They climbed to the top with ease and watched everybody play down below.  
After several minutes, a small group of boys walked up to the spider web and peered up at the child.

“Hey freak, get off so we can play,” one of them yelled. They stared down at the boys and calmly shook their head.

“No thanks. I like this spot. Can’t you just play without me moving?” they replied and gestured at the rest of the large playground toy.

“No, not with you here. No way we’re sharing this with a murderer,” he said snarkily, adding extra emphasis to the last word. They pursed their lips and avoided eye contact. 

“I’m not a murderer,” they muttered. The boy only laughed.

“Yeah, and your parents aren’t dead,” he shot back sarcastically. “Now get off or we won’t hesitate to force you off ourselves.” The child opened their mouth to speak, but quickly decided against it. Instead they quietly surrendered and began to make their way off of the spider web. 

Before they even had a chance to step onto the ground below, one of the other boys pulled them down and forcefully shoved them to the ground. The rest of the group then circled around them. The boy who spoke earlier relentlessly kicked them in the side, causing them to cry out in pain and shock. The others promptly joined in on the assault. The child could only curl up into a ball in a hopeless attempt to defend theirself. Tears pricked the corner of their eyes as they felt the impact of each shoe digging into their body.

After several painstaking minutes they had had enough. They mustered up what little energy they had left and managed to blindly push through the circle. They stood up, and with no warning, determinedly punched one of the boys across the face. He fell down with a cry and scrambled back against the spider web. Blood flowed down from his nose, now tilted at an angle and most likely broken. The others stared at the child with wide eyes, dumbfounded and horrified. 

“It wasn’t my fault,” they whispered, their voice shaky and their eyes flickering between brown and dark red.   
The first boy marched up to them, seething with rage.

“What did you just do to him?!” he roared. They didn’t answer and instead crossed their arms and weakly took a step back.

“Answer me, you scum!” he pushed them and they stumbled backwards. They looked up at him with a fearful expression.

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t do it,” they replied. The boy scoffed.

“Stop it with the lies already. The teacher’s gonna hear about this,” he sneered and started to walk back to his friends. 

Then, somewhere deep inside of them, something broke. 

“I said it wasn’t me!” they screamed and tackled him to the ground. He yelled out and tried to push them off, but they wouldn’t budge. Then, with a devious smile and a murderous glint in their now blood-red eyes, they wrapped their hands around his neck. The boy let out a shriek of terror that ended abruptly when they tightened their grip. 

“Just shut up and die,” they growled and watched with glee as their victim’s face began to turn a pale blue from lack of oxygen. Just as he was surely taking in his final breath, a hand took ahold of their shoulder and pried them off of the boy. He gasped for air and shakily crawled away from them. The child slowly turned around to be met with the angry and disappointed face of the teacher.

Before a single word could be uttered, they bolted away from the playground. They blindly ran and ran until the spider web was just a small speck in the distance. Soon they slowed down to catch their breath only to trip over a loose mound of grass and fall into a large, gaping pit.

Then everything went dark.

\--------------------

“... and that’s when I found out I was in the Underground. I remembered all sorts of stories about how evil creatures made their home there. Fortunately, a kind monster named Toriel found me and took care of me. She accepted me into her home. Her and the others there were like the family I never really had.” A half-smile briefly appeared on Chara’s face but quickly vanished. “Then my other side found her and the rest of them,” they said quietly and looked away.

I didn’t speak in fear of saying something that might hurt them more. Instead I gently took their face in my hands and made them look me in the eyes.

Their own dark brown eyes were glossed with what I could only assume was tears that they had tried to hold back. This was proven correct when a single drop escaped and trickled down their red cheeks. I tenderly wiped it away with my thumb and sighed.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered hoarsely. I leaned my forehead against theirs and closed my eyes. I imagined what it was like for them, having to live knowing that the blood of innocent beings were on their hands and there was nothing they could do to change it.

And much to my own humiliation, I began to silently weep.

As I sat there holding Chara’s face in my hands and failing at fighting back my sudden onslaught of tears, I felt a cold hand lift my chin up and another rest on my own face. I opened my blurred eyes and rubbed them with the dirty sleeves of my sweater. They were staring at me with slight amusement.

“You shouldn’t be the one crying,” they mused and pulled me closer against them. I let out a sad laugh and shook my head.

“I’m sorry about that too,” I murmured. They smiled warmly at me and caressed my cheek, still in the palm of their hand. I couldn’t help but lightly blush and it almost looked as if they were too. 

“Y/N… thank you for listening to me and understanding I’m not like this by choice. I’ve never shared that with anyone before until now,” they said. I simply nodded, becoming lost in their deep brown orbs.

Before I knew it, I had leaned in until our lips were almost touching. Chara’s warm breath fanned over my bottom lip, their eyes wide with both curiosity and puzzlement. Then, with slow movements, I tenderly pressed my mouth against theirs in an affectionate kiss. Much to my surprise, they didn’t pull away and after a few seconds shyly returned it. I tangled my hands in the green cloth of their sweater and smiled through the kiss. Butterflies swarmed my stomach and it felt as if my heart was bound to beat right out of my chest. Soon I broke away for air and let go of them. They were gazing at me with a mixture of adoration and concern.

“Did you just kiss me?” they asked. I nodded sheepishly. 

“But why?” they prodded on. 

“I guess I just felt like it,” I shrugged. An awkward silence passed by before they spoke again.

“Do you like me?” they asked hesitantly. I froze and bit my lip.

“Maybe,” I murmured. Chara’s eyes went wide and a red tint washed across their face.

“O-oh,” they croaked. Another unbearable pause filled the air.

“Shit. Good going, Y/N. You probably scared them now,” I thought and frowned to myself. 

“The truth is that I-”

Before Chara could finish speaking, a loud boom echoed around us. Then an unfamiliar voice cackled gleefully.

“Ah, it seems that the skeleton was wrong! There’s not just one running around, but two! I’ve hit the jackpot!” A pair of threatening eyes gleamed through the darkness up above the waterfall, and the large figure they belonged to stepped forward on the grass nearby. 

“You’ll regret coming here once I’m finished with you, foolish humans.”


End file.
